The inquiry instituted by the state government into the alleged uterus removal (hysterectomy) scam in the state seems to be moving at a snail’s pace.
After the scam surfaced, involving removal of the uteri of BPL women on a large scale by registered hospitals and clinics, allegedly to claim money under a health insurance scheme, the state government had formed a committee in every district where such cases had been reported, to investigate the issue. The committee comprises a magistrate, one doctor and a representative from an insurance company.
Talking to TOI, labour resources minister Janardan Prasad Sigriwal said, “We have already received reports from many districts while reports from rest of the districts are awaited. But, going by the reports we have received till now, nothing glaring has come to fore so far. We are studying the reports minutely and only after we receive reports from all the districts, anything concrete could be said.”
Sigriwal, however, claimed the percentage of hysterectomy in all surgery cases conducted in the state is much lower than the national and international averages. This percentage is 2.22% in Bihar, lower than the national average of more than 7 % and the international percentage of more than 10.
The minister, though, retracted from his earlier statement to a section of media, in which he had stated that the state government had chosen the hospitals and private nursing homes empanelled under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). He said, “The state government has played no role in selection of hospitals and nursing homes under the scheme. This was done by the insurance companies in view of the Centre’s guidelines in this regard. Even, the insurance companies under the said scheme were chosen by the Centre.”
The minister said in every district a core committee was formed for proper implementation of the scheme. The committee consisted of a senior ADM-rank officer, senior doctors from sadar hospital and representatives from insurance companies and media. He reiterated that not a single paise has been withdrawn illegally under the scheme, which covered more than 1,100 diseases.
On submitting report to the Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC), which had directed the government to submit a report within three weeks, the minister said, “Once we receive reports from all the districts and go through them, the same would be submitted to BHRC.”
Meanwhile, the IMA, Bihar chapter, has till date not received a single complaint from any individual or organization complaining of fraud, said state IMA president Dr A K Thakur.
